Some PS3 Games to Cost $75 in Japan 89
Gamasutra reports on pricing for PS3 games in Japan, where some titles may rise as high as (equivalently) $75. From the article: "Japanese game prices can vary considerably across even a single format, depending on the title. Higher profile games, such as the recent Nintendo DS title Final Fantasy III, are often sold at an increased price. Similarly, Xbox 360 titles Dead Rising and Lost Planet will be priced at ¥8,379 ($72) when they are released — ¥1,000 to ¥2,000 ($9 to $17) more than usual. Tecmo's Dead or Alive Xtreme 2 will be sold at an even more excessive ¥9,240 ($79)."
Why is this singling out Sony? (Score:5, Insightful)
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next-gen koan ;-) (Score:5, Funny)
If a game is priced 72 bucks in a country where no one will buy it, does it make a cash-register noise?
Re:Is this singling out Sony? or not ... (Score:1)
No, but if a Sony PS3 game sells for $72 US in Japan (Yen) and a Wii game sells for $40 US in Japan (Yen), that's quite a dramatic difference.
Remember, Sony makes a lot of the profit on the game sales, and loses money on the console (almost $200 with their new Japan pricing, according to today's B1 page article in the Wall Street Journal [wsj.com]). Nintendo makes a profit on
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Not to mention this pricing policy seems to be Japan only, which makes the discussion rather irrelevant for overseas markets. Having said that, the dramatic difference might still be there if you compare average prices for each console.
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I quoted exact amounts from today's Wall Street Journal B1/B6 article on pricing for Japan, as well as pricing for US (NAm) and Europe.
My point being that there is indeed an even higher cost-of-opportunity for buying a Sony PS3. While the console price was dropped in Japan for the PS3, the games are more expensive - and
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For example the PS3 sold ¥49980 will be sold for 499 EUR
¥9,240 that could easily mean 92 EUR, or 117 USD. Much less fun.
Re:Why is this singling out Sony? (Score:4, Informative)
I know it's fun to bash Sony and all lately, but the caption below the title is talking about XBOX 360 games being $72. Is that $3 newsworthy?
If you RTFA you'll see that they're saying "normal" PS3 pricing is in the range of $75-$84USD. Then they later compare "premium" titles to this price mentioning DOA X2 priced at $79USD.
Do you see the difference?
PS3's normal pricing will all be around the price range of the other consoles' "premium titles" pricing!
That's pretty significant if you ask me (especially since there are very few titles for the other consoles in the "premium titles" pricing category). Essentially, all PS3 titles are premium titles
I don't want to sound like a fanboy (Score:1, Flamebait)
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Never mind that people don't pay all that money for one game (except for fanboys but I don't count those who are beyond reason in any statement about people), they hope they'll be able to pick up more titles until the cost of the console distributed over all
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high profile games usually costing more (Score:2)
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They're getting off cheap (Score:5, Insightful)
By the way, aren't games already past the optimum price? I can't imagine that the higher price won't hurt the sales enough to decrease the profit for the whole game. Even a first semester business student knows that more expensive does not necessarily equate more profit.
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Now whether junkies outnumber casual users by enough of a margin to make up for the drop in casual users is another issue.
-nB
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By "MS" you mean "EA", right? Because Microsoft has kept their next-gen games priced the same as for the previous gen ($50, for the US market). Now I'm not completely familiar with pricing in European markets, and obviously exchange rates can make things more or less expensive, but I'd really be surprised if Microsoft increased the price of Microsoft-pub
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Which before tax works out to about $64 and $70.
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$75? ONLY $75?!! (Score:1, Flamebait)
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Europe always seems to get screwed...and yes Zonk is a troll.
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Region-locking is fun!
This PS3 thing is sounding better and better
And you assume they won't charge Europe a different price becauuuuuuse?
Not for me. (Score:1)
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Actually I thought it proved the point that not everybody feels that bad news for Sony is always FUD.
Only fair (Score:1)
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The baseline PS3 costs $499 so you are wrong. BTW, accessories for the Wii sound ludicrously expensive if your figures are correct.
Re:Wii. or what's up in Japan? (Score:1)
The article is about Japanese costs for games. In Japan, Sony's PS retails for $402 USD (priced in Yen).
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The Wii price is USD $250 and xBox360 core console about USD $300 ($400 with big HD).
The Wii and PS3 prices are launch prices, without non-standard bundling. I believe the launch bundle for the Wii includes Wii Sports (you know, Tennis, etc) and a Wiimote and nunchuck, and I'm not sure of the PS launch bundle.
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In Japan, the Wii is selling for 25,000 yen, so the difference is $215. Also, though the GP's prices are right for the US, in Japan they're somewhat lower: $33 for remote and $15 for the nunchuck. "Normal" games look to be around $40, though Twilight Princess will be something like $68.
That said, I don't really care what the price difference is in Japan, since I don't live there (do you?). For me, the difference is $272+game ([$500 - $250]*1.088 + Wii Sports), though I'm guessing that for many people it's
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Re:Wii. (Score:5, Funny)
Sony fans, don't worry. The PlayStation 3 isn't doomed.
I'm planning to buy a PS3 at launch, along with whatever games and accessories are available, including redundant things like different types of Sony-branded connection cables. Also, I heard that Sony is selling PS3s at a loss, so I'm planning to mail them a check to try to help cover the difference. I've personally spoken to literally trillions of gamers, and every single one of them is planning to do exactly the same as me.
Based on my completely plausible and irrefutable anecdote, Sony's profits this year will obviously dwarf the GDP of most countries.
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The Digital Gaming Divide (Score:3, Insightful)
Let's recap, shall we? High price point, Wii-mote ripoff added in, features I can't use without upgrading my TV, entertaining the thoughts of micropayments for Gran Turismo, press blunders, delays...oh and the Sony rootkit that made them scummier than usual.
The way things are going, the only place you'll find a PS3 is when you're watching MTV Cribs.
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Not really (Score:2)
UK (Score:1)
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I'd gladly pay the 75 bucks... (Score:2)
Due in part to short PS3 supply? (Score:2)
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$75 is nothing (Score:2)
Different Country Different Costs (Score:4, Insightful)
This is just a personal example someone in the UK definite knows more than me. But my sister when to work in London for 7 months.
My parents when over to visit her and said that all the food and stuff was expensive. Like 5 quid for a MickieDs value meal? which would be more than 7-8 dollars here. But the thing was that my sister was making about 7-8 quid/hr which is definitely more that minimum wage here. The argument this many yen = this many dollars should not hold up as a direct transfer to here in the US. Alot of things in Japan are more than here in the US and somethings that are cheap here are more expensive there. I need a little more detail than OMG there paying 9000 yen what are we going to be paying.
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"PlayStation 2 game price in Japan of ¥6,800 ($58)"
I was speaking in general terms because it also states that "Tecmo's Dead or Alive Xtreme 2 will be sold at an even more excessive ¥9,240 ($79)." which is for the Xbox360 (I am not 100% sure)
The 58$ would be the exact thing that I am talking about beca
Wii games still $50? (Score:3, Interesting)
If the $75 games make their way to the US market for the PS3, however, Sony could be shooting themselves in the foot. Their console is already pricey by itself.
This could be another boon for Nintendo if thy can keep the $50 price they generally maintained for GC games. This is definitely possible since they don't need to make up the same loss on hardware Sony does.
We'll see how this plays out. I can imagine them getting away with $75 for MGS4, FF13, GTA6, and other high profile titles, but not every title.
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Consumer Prices in Japan (Score:4, Informative)
Occasionally, you can get crazy bargains in Japan as well. At a hyaku-en (100 yen store) a couple of years ago, I got an 8-pack of the longest-lasting double-A batteries I've ever used for under $1.
Thank you... (Score:2)
$75 game is about righ
dear sony (Score:2, Interesting)
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GT:HD Classic will be Gran Turismo 4 in hi-def. Nobody knows what actually comes with it. Heck, there's the chance that everything that's already in 4 will still be in GT:HD Classic. Then the only thing you're spend
Which ones? (Score:2)
For future Final Fantasy games... well they have released v
Nothing new here (Score:2, Insightful)
Not News. Just Japan (Score:1)
$75? BARGAIN! (Score:1)
Silly me (Score:1)
Don't forget the Big Mac Index (Score:1)